Alarmed by heavy plaster work

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks for your support and encouragement chaps. It is not the easiest of jobs, particularly as I'm on tiptoe at full stretch for hours on end with no one here to say hello to or make me a cup of tea or tell me it looks nice.

You're so right though Nigel, when you do a job all you see is the little flaws. When you come in the finished room, you soak up the overall mood and don't really srutinize every join and corner. Everyone should attempt to do their absolute best at all times and not be slapdash, but, in the absence of a really skilled company (as hoppy's is, seen the website now- beautiful) we just have to make do with our own imperfect attempts. And isn't that what we love about our houses, partly? The quirks and bodges of the past?

Not that you have imperfections Nigel, your work is really meticulous.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Well done with the cornice!! Sorry I didn't catch the thread soon enough--when I had some put up the moulding was cut into 3 ft lengths to overcome the uneven walls.

I do sympathise about wishing to call in the Professionals, I've just been struggling with making a loose cover to fit an Edwardian chair, the books make it look easy, but somehow one ends up with a slip of the scissors here and there!

Still, as you say, it's all part of the reason we take on a period property, and who cares anyway so long as our intentions are the best!

 

[TimM]

There's an amazing plaster ceiling at East Riddleston Hall in Keighley, Yorks - the further away you get from the window, the more botched the plasterwork gets, with motifs applied in an increasingly slapdash way... apparently beer was used to make the plaster more elastic... and well, you know how it is with getting people in. Hence, apparently, the origin of the phrase 'plastered'.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: Great story, TimM! You'd better add "BEER: plaster ingredient" when we get to B in the big dic.

Jocelyn, I sympathise with the chair cover. Chair covers are also a nightmare. The least slip out of alignment with the seams and you have something that isn't mathematically perfect. Thank you for your support - must get over to see you and your fab new house at some point!

For some reason I am reminded of the wonderful Lady Ottoline Morrell, the Bedford Square society hostess whose tea parties were graced by E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf et al. I played her once, so know a lot about her. She would dress in theatrical costumes in her daily life, held together with safety pins. On one of her hats were hedgehogs. She had a shepherdess's crook from which 7 Pekinese dogs billowed forth on ribbons. The effect was all, there was no real sewing in her get-ups.

She's quite an inspiration. She wouldn't have worried about joins.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

For some reason I am reminded of the wonderful Lady Ottoline Morrell, the Bedford Square society hostess whose tea parties were graced by E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf et al. I played her once.

Darts? Rugby? Water polo?

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

But good Lord, how could you have imagined anything so sweaty? Parlour games would be the absolute max. I'd like to have played "I've never..." with Lady O, she'd have needed a fair few bottles of gin to get through that game!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Right, it's been caulked to oblivion and that will have to do. Now to paint the b*gger.

I've been tying my poor brain in knots over this dreadful sum, anyone like maths and want to see if I'm right?

I can of Farrow and Ball = 2.5 litres and £26.00 and covers 14 metres squared. 2.5 litres is the smallest you can buy, unless you buy the sample pot.

The sample pot is 100ml and costs £3.50.

It's 16 metres of cornice, I'll need 2 coats so let's call it 32 metres. It's 12 cm height. To calculate the area I believe I need to multiply the length by the height (??? :? ) The number I came up with is 3.84 metres squared.

That means that 2.5 litres of paint to cover 14 metres squared, when I only have 3.84 m 2 is a wasteful excess. A can a quarter of that size would seem appropriate. A quarter of 14 is 3.5. A quarter of 2.5 litres is 625 ml. At 100 ml per can, 7 cans would do it. At £3.50 per can, the cost would be £24.50.

:? :? :?

This means that Farrow and Ball are actually the devil. They are making me buy a giant can and chuck 2/3 away. Please don't tell me not to use them on this occasion, I started the colour scheme back in January and it must be continued though now I know there is better paint on the market in kindlier sized cans.

 

[Flyfisher]

If you've already started the colour scheme elsewhere you should have a 2.5 litre tin somewhere with just enough to finish your cornice :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

I wish, but the "Tallow" I have is oil eggshell for wood - tons left over- not estate emulsion, which I understand is what you need for plasterwork?

 

[Penners]

getting the filler right is tricky, but can make a big difference.

Joce - I agree wholeheartedly with Nigel about having the right filler for the job.

Although I've never used it precisely for your application, I'm a big fan of the stuff below. It's incredibly light, so you can use as much as you like without it slumping, and even when it's wet, it feels sort of dry, so can be moulded with your fingers. I know that sounds ridiculous, but buy yourself a small tub and try it. You might find it just the job.

Or you might not - in which case it was Flyfisher's idea. :wink:

http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_one_fill_polyfilla.jsp

 

[JoceAndChris]

I have thanked you for this before.

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10377


I know I do say rather too much so don't expect you to follow it all. :lol:

In this case the marvellous filler you speak of was not malleable enough.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Oh golly, I have got a huge tub of this stuff if it is the grey stuff? It is brilliant. Can't praise it enough.

 

[Schoolmarm]

I think it would be hard to use in an intricate moulding though, just read last post lol

 

[MdB]

Joce, your maths is fine however I would add on 20% to 50% extra as you are not painting a flat surface. I would also add on another 20% to 50% as the coverage most manufactures put on their cans is often optimistic. Finally, I would assume you will need to put on three coats rather than two to get it to look good. Two might be enough but give yourself the option for three if needed.

Get the large can..

 

[JoceAndChris]

Joce, your maths is fine

:shock: Good Lord. That's never happened before. First time for everything, I suppose.

I would add on 20% to 50% extra as you are not painting a flat surface. I would also add on another 20% to 50% as the coverage most manufactures put on their cans is often optimistic. Finally, I would assume you will need to put on three coats rather than two to get it to look good. Two might be enough but give yourself the option for three if needed.

:lol: That is just so wise, and the reason why so many of my projects have gone wrong - nothing left for back up! Thanks very much indeed, no point spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Hurrah- finished! Although the joins are still visible, they're so concealed by paint, which I glooped on at those points, that they aren't obtrusive.

In case anyone is considering picking out their cornice in a contrasting F & B colour, for the record, I did it with just three sample pots of estate emulsion in the end, costing me about £10. MdB- I'd have followed your sensible advice but I found I had a little sample pot full of the Tallow colour, so I thought I'd use it up. Then I realised I'd have to water it down considerably so as not to go too thickly over the intricate detail, and that 2 coats would suffice... But thanks so much for your help anyway, I do appreciate it.

Of course another kind of cornice may respond differently! I'm mean and stingy with paint, in general. I like to build up thin coats of whatever, and keep judging the finish.

I'm pleased we did this, though it was endless fiddling and is nowhere near Hoppy's professional stuff, it's created a look that I love and that was very affordable.